The Shameless Self-Promotion Department of Light in the Dark Paranormal Press is at it again. We are running a contest where you can win a free copy of Lanes End, a Journey Into the Paranormal. You’ll have a 1 in 10 chance of winning! Here are the rules:

–Watch the audio/video version of Chapter One of the book, Madonna on the Curb (below). Its only 8 minutes and 53 seconds long. Two questions you have to answer: 1) somewhere during the video, you’ll see an aerial view of a small park. What’s the shape of the park? 2) somewhere after that, it will show who wrote the original music. Who is that?

–After you watched it, via Contact Us (above) send us your answers. Then write a short paragraph about why you might like to read Lanes End. That simple. The first 10 entrants will be in the First Round, where we will judge the best entry. That person will win Lanes End (the soft cover, a real book!) which we will send to him or her including FREE U.S. shipping (for international shipping, you may have to chip-in some).

–The next 10 entrants will qualify for the next round, then the next 10, etc., until we have a maximum of 50 entrants. That’s 5 books given away among 50 readers! Even the non-winners (there are no losers in our world) will be able to buy the book for a discount just for entering.

–Finally, you agree to let us post your entry to our blog (anonymously if you wish).

As soon as we have our first 10 entrants, we’ll quickly pick our winner and get back via email to set up delivery. That’s it! Get started with watching the video . . .

Sorry to deviate from the paranormal today, including the relentless self-promotion of my new book, Lanes End. Compelled instead to keep commenting on the horseshit spewing out of the White House, below is a quote from an important politico. I’ll be adding more one at a time, not only to keep my fingers from cramping, but also to introduce some continuing suspense into this game . . .

Who Said This?

” . . . if your organization is small in numbers, then do what Gideon did: conceal the members in the dark but raise a din and clamor that will make the listener believe that your organization numbers many more than it does . . . if your organization is too tiny even for noise, stink up the place.”

a) Donald Trump
b) Steve Bannon
c) Aaron Burr
d) none of the above

For the right answer, scroll down >>

Answer:

a) Donald Trump– no, too many big words
b) Steve Bannon– no, he’s just the copycat
c) Aaron Burr– no
d) none of the above– correct! This quote is from the late Saul Alinsky, the left-wing organizer and rabble-rouser who in 1971 published it in his book, Rules for Radicals.

Lane’s End: A Journey Into the Paranormal is an urban fantasy novel written by Paul Hill. Odessa Kearney was a “Lady Trucker”, and she was proud of it. She had wanted more from life than an uninspiring relationship; the ubiquitous big rig advertisement on the matchbook cover had settled itself firmly into her imagination. It took very little for her to make it become a reality. As she drove the I-40 east into New Mexico, she noted that her son’s twenty-seventh birthday was coming up. He lived in California now after leaving Phoenix for San Francisco eight years ago. She missed those few years when she was able to be his full-time mom, but that was all past. For her, nirvana was the open road, traveling the country, seeing the sights and warring, sometimes, with her tendency to zone out on the road. She had long learned not to indulge in a bit of road rage, no matter what craziness transpired on the road, but the crazy in the old Grand Prix that came zooming up behind her and nearly clipped her rig when passing merited a long lean on her horn. The passenger brandished a stubby middle finger in salute as they roared away.

She sighed sometime later when a profusion of red brake lights signaled traffic ahead, There were the inevitable police cars, a fire truck and an ambulance gathered around the impacted vehicle, but no flurry of effort surrounded the driver’s sheet-covered form. With a shock, she recognized that old Grand Prix and pulled over to give FBI Special Agent Sam Buscella a witness statement. Sam was there because the incident was definitely a homicide, and he suspected a serial killer, possibly a trucker riding the roads, was at work. When Odessa got back into her rig, she wasn’t alone. A gaunt and disheveled man in a filthy coverall had a gun trained on her, his near-perfect diction and manners a startling contrast to his appearance. As she started her rig, she wondered if perhaps a fortunate accident would occur; however, nothing unforeseen or otherwise halted their progress.

Paul Hill’s paranormal urban fantasy, Lane’s End: A Journey Into the Paranormal, is a taut, suspenseful and compelling descent into terror as Odessa comes to terms with her abduction and uncertain survival at the hands of the strangely urbane Zacharias. Odessa Kearney grabbed my attention in the opening paragraphs. I so admired this gutsy and resilient woman who had actually fulfilled the owner-operator fantasy so many harbor within their imaginations. Following as she adroitly manages her rig, plans the rest area stops to comply with DOT regulations and embodies that fantasy of the trucker’s life so many dream about was a joy indeed. Her story, which gets dark so quickly with the arrival of Zacharias, continues, somehow, to be the stuff of dreams as they leave her scheduled pick-up in Albuquerque and head towards the Four Corners and into Utah. The canoe scene is unutterably lovely as the two navigate the Green River in a stolen canoe through the Canyonlands. One can’t help but wonder at the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome as the two discuss her family and “the sparkling refractions of sunlight playing off the small waves breaking against the bow” lull Odessa into slumber. I especially enjoyed the serial killer investigation conducted by Agent Sam Buscella and hope that the author considers giving Buscella additional investigations in future novels.

Lane’s End is powerful and profound, and it’s a most impressive debut novel – this is highly recommended.